


The Soothing Effects of Folding Laundry

by penstrikesmidnight



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Oikawa Tooru, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:22:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23146126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penstrikesmidnight/pseuds/penstrikesmidnight
Summary: This is the trifecta of Tooru's self pity parties: 1) eating alone 2) putting on sad music because he can't be bothered to turn on the TV and 3) scrolling through his partners' social media to see what he has missed while he was losing volleyball games.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Kyoutani Kentarou/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 6
Kudos: 115
Collections: Iwaoikyou Fics





	The Soothing Effects of Folding Laundry

**Author's Note:**

> For Cynth for the White Day Exchange! Hope you like it!

Tooru is the last one out of the locker room. He declines a dinner invitation from a few of his teammates--he has leftovers in the mini fridge in his hotel room he does not want to go to waste. He closes and reopens his messaging app as he walks out of the sports complex, but neither Hajime nor Kentarou have responded to his texts, sent over a half hour ago at this point.

On the way into the hotel, he is stopped by a few of the coaches chatting next to the door. "Kind of a sucky way to end a tournament," their assistant coach says, "but it wasn't a surprise."

Tooru forces a smile, because no matter how inexperienced or under-favored his team is, it always hurts to lose. He excuses himself as the conversation turns to next season and what they can do to improve, because right now he doesn't want to think about what he could have done better, if that last play he'd called was the right one. He is hungry and tired, and neither Hajime nor Kentarou are answering him...

He throws his phone on the bed as soon as he enters the room, and gets into the shower. Sometimes, the shower does wonders to get him back into the right head-space, refreshed and ready to embrace the next day.

Tonight is not one of those nights.

Instead, his thoughts circle, half-formed and halting, to how terrible the team had done the whole last month, how Hajime has picked up double shifts at the hospital lately, and Tooru feels like he hardly ever talks to him anymore. They drift to Kentarou, who already doesn't like talking on the phone and how scarce their communication has been. Every time Tooru leaves for long trips, he gets a little jealous of the time that Hajime and Kentarou get to spend together, as if their bond is solidifying while Tooru's is stretching thin, in danger of snapping.

He towel dries his hair a little more forcefully than necessary, trying to stop these thoughts. They are always worse when he loses, as if that failure of the game will translate to his personal life next. He throws his leftover pasta in the microwave, then picks up his discarded phone from the bed.

He has one text from Kentarou that says _Sorry. Working._ which means that there has been some sort of emergency veterinary house call he has had to answer. He hasn't heard back from Hajime.

Tooru crawls into bed with his meager dinner. He thinks about getting up and turning on the TV, but he can't find the remote. Instead, he flips on a playlist with moody orchestral music and weepy ballads.

He is almost finished with dinner and trying to decide if he is really going to go to bed at eight, when he gets a Facetime notification from Hajime. He answers it on the second ring, not caring how desperate he appears. "Hey," he says listlessly, flopping down onto his bed.

"Hi, sorry, I'm just on a quick break. We're slammed right now. I heard about your game." Tooru would know the look of the break room in the hospital anywhere, with those fluorescent lights and how they reflect off of that awful white paint to make Hajime look sallower than he is. It has been the most common backdrop of their calls the past few weeks. 

Tooru sighs and drops the phone into the pillows on his bed. "I don't want to talk about volleyball, Iwa-chan. How's life at home?"

"I wish I knew, I'm hardly ever there. We've hired a few new doctors, though, so hopefully things settle down in a few weeks." Tooru closes his eyes, listening to Hajime talk about work. Hajime's voice has always been so soothing to him. "Kentarou has been quite domestic lately. I think you'd be quite shocked."

Tooru picks up his phone again when the topic shifts to Kentarou, studying Hajime. He looks the same as always, just a little more tired. Tooru's chest aches with how much he misses both of his partners.

"Ah, Kentarou has always been such a good housewife," Tooru says. "Does he make you cute bento boxes? Maybe I can get him to make me one too, when I get back tomorrow."

Hajime frowns. Tooru had thought he had done a good job covering up his bad mood, but over the years it has gotten hard to hide anything from Hajime and Kentarou. "You're sure you're okay?"

Tooru tries to smile, but before he can say anything, Hajime looks up from the phone to where someone has entered the break room. 

Hajime turns back to his phone, apology in his eyes, but Tooru waves it away. "Hey, it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, Kentarou is working but I'll pick you up when you get in. Two?"

"Mmm-hmm," Tooru says with a yawn. "So that means I have to get up early. Get back to work, 'kay, Hajime? Love you. See you tomorrow."

"Love you," Hajime says, his voice cutting off as he ends the call. Tooru sighs, dropping the phone onto the bed again as his playlist hits a particularly sad song. He knows he should go to sleep, that he needs to wake up early to finish packing.

Instead, he picks up his phone again and opens Instagram. He sees his teammates with their _next year is our year!_ posts, then old college friends posting their weekend shenanigans. He sees Makki and Mattsun's update on their Hawaii trip (of which Tooru is definitely not jealous, because he has been traveling the world for the past few years with his team, so why would he be?). When he finds Hajime's most recent post he clicks onto his profile. He tells himself this is not what he has been looking for this whole time.

Surprisingly, Hajime is the one who updates his social media the most. (Maybe not so surprising, since Kentarou probably doesn't even know what Instagram is, and Tooru's profiles have been replaced by his professional identity). He sees a selfie of Hajime and Kentarou at the peak of Kumano, a hike Hajime had been talking about for months. It is interspersed with other nature scenes and selfies, a few food photos, and two singular shots of Kentarou playing with a dog at work. Tooru scrolls further, looking at Hajime’s old photos with the three of them. He didn’t realize until then how few there are. There are definitely more of just Hajime and Kentarou, and even less of him and Kentarou without Hajime. He only finds three pics of just him and Hajime together. 

Maybe he just fits into their lives when he has the time. Maybe he isn't as committed to the two of them as they are to each other. Maybe, one day, he'll go home and find that they have moved on without him while he was too busy building a career on the other side of the world.

Tooru force closes all his apps, except the music. He knows he has sunk to his worst when he decides to spend the night alone, listening to sad music while scrolling through his boyfriends' socials, feeling sorry for himself for being a sports celebrity. How pathetic could he get?

He throws the covers off of himself. He decides to finish packing now, give his hands something to do. Laundry is one of Tooru's favorite chores. He loves the clean smell of freshly washed garments, the feeling of newly-warm cloth on his cold skin, and the nice, clean precision of folding and ironing. Sure, packing is very limited on what he can do, but he sure as hell can fold his clothes.

He spends the next forty-five minutes arranging and rearranging his suitcase, his sad music still on in the background, but at least he has stopped poking the wound. The intensity of the day is finally getting to him, so by the time he has finished packing his bags he is dragging.

As he is drifting into unconsciousness, he wishes he were with Hajime and Kentarou, but before he can drudge up the rest of his self-doubt, he falls asleep.

***

Hajime is waiting in his usual spot by the trunk of their car when Tooru exits the airport. He doesn't care what he looks like when he drops all his bags and throws his arms around his neck.

"Oh my gosh, Tooru, you're such a disaster," Hajime says, but he's grinning and he gives Tooru a kiss on the cheek as he pulls away. "Get you bags in the car before we get yelled at to move."

"It's so good to see you too, Hajime! I haven't missed you all month at all!" Tooru slams the trunk closed and slips into the passenger seat. He links his and Hajime's fingers together when he gets into the car. "I wish Kentarou were here too! We could go out to an early dinner or something."

Hajime sighs. "Tooru, I'm going to have to take a rain check. I'm so tired. I've worked splits twice this week."

Tooru feels his shoulders slump. "Ah, yeah, you've been working a lot, haven't you Iwa-chan?"

Hajime frowns. Sometime, when Tooru's having an especially rough time, his old nicknames for his boyfriends slip out. "Are you...?"

"Hajime, of course I'm great! I get to spend all this time with you guys now!"

Hajime gives him a strange look, but turns back to the road without saying anything. Tooru hunches down into the seat more, feigning tiredness. _Maybe they don't want you to interrupt their lives_ a voice whispers in the back of his head. _Maybe that's why Hajime hasn't said anything yet_.

The rest of their car ride is awkwardly silent. When they get to the apartment, Hajime unloads the suitcases, only leaving Tooru one duffel bag. Always the chivalrous one, Hajime. Tooru knew there was love in everything Hajime did for him.

So why was he still feeling so down?

Hajime sets Tooru's luggage into their bedroom. Tooru grabs a cup of water and a slice of milk bread, which he devours in three bites. 

Hajime comes back into the room, pocketing his phone. "Kentarou said he's leaving work. He'll probably get here in about ten minutes."

Tooru checks his phone. No new messages. He tries not to let that hurt him. "Do you want to do something? Make dinner, or dessert, or maybe go grocery shopping...?"

Hajime sighs. This one sounds more agitated. "Tooru, I'm sorry, I'm just not up to it. Tomorrow's my day off, I'll be all yours..."

Tooru tightens his grip on his glass. "I've been gone for almost a month..."

"And I've been working doubles almost that long too! I just want to sit down and relax, not chauffeur you around the city..."

_You're interrupting their lives_ , that voice whispers again. Tooru sets his jaw. 

"Whatever, then I'm just going to go take a nap. I didn't sleep well last night," Tooru snaps. Hajime sets his jaw, but doesn't protest. Tooru gathers his dishes and puts them in the sink a little more forcefully than necessary. He knows Hajime is tired, that his attitude isn’t deserved, but he just can’t get out of this feeling he has wallowed in for so long. 

He changes into sweats and flops down on the bed. He glares at his suitcase, telling himself he doesn’t have to unpack now, that he can just relax and get it done after a nap, or even in the morning. Most of it is going into the dirty clothes anyway, why would he...?

He ends up unpacking the suitcase. 

The actions of sorting and folding are as soothing as they were yesterday. It gives him time to calm down, to sort his thoughts. Distantly, he hears the front door open and the deep voices of his boyfriends in the living room. He hasn’t seen Kentarou since coming home, and he knows he should go out and say hi, but he is just tired. He tells himself that after he is done with his clothes, he’ll go out there. 

The door to the room opens. He doesn’t look up from his neat folding. His boyfriends make fun of the sharp, clean lines he always makes, but he refuses to live like a barbarian like those two would had they not lived with him. The bed dips as someone sits next to him, so he figures at this point he can’t ignore them anymore. 

He is surprised to see Kentarou instead of Hajime, who is usually the one to handle his bad moods. “Hi, Kyouken! How was work today? You stayed up late last night, yeah?”

Kentarou sighs, his eyebrows drawing down into his usual serious expression. He wraps his arm around Tooru’s waist and pulls them closer together. Tooru sags into the hug, resigned. “Work was fine. How was your flight?”

Tooru shrugs. He doesn’t really want to talk, now that he is leaning against Kentarou. Tooru has always been a physical person and, to his delight, so was Kentarou. Sometimes Tooru could spend hours just hugging him.

“Sorry about your game last night." Kentarou finally says. "Crappy way to end a season.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Tooru says into Kentarou’s shoulder. 

Kentarou snorts. “That’s a first. I usually can’t get you to shut up.”

“Hey, you love my voice,” Tooru retorts, finally reciprocating Kentarou’s hug. 

Tooru doesn’t know how long they sit there on the bed, his clothes strewn around them. At first, Tooru had had a really rough time communicating with Kentarou, because he just _didn’t talk to him_ , which, for Tooru, was absolutely tortuous. Talking was, like, the thing he was good at. He didn't realize until later that, maybe, Kentarou had been listening the whole time. 

He had also realized fairly early on that Kentarou's way of showing affection was physical, resting a hand on Tooru's knee during dinner, or slipping his leg under Hajime's when they sat next to each other on the couch. Tooru had always been physically affectionate, but he hadn't realized how much Kentarou complemented that style, bridging a gap between Hajime and Tooru perfectly.

"Did Hajime send you in here?" Tooru asks finally.

"No. Are you done throwing your temper tantrum?"

Tooru looks up right at Hajime flops down on the bed. "You ruined my folding!" Tooru wails, then laughs as Hajime buries his head in his stomach and blows a raspberry onto his bare skin.

"We missed you," Hajime says, once he has stopped his barrage of tickling. Tooru is leaning up against Kentarou, who has started carding a hand through Tooru's hair. The movement is soothing, one of Tooru's favorite things, and he lets his eyes shut for a few seconds to savor the feeling. He feels Hajime shift so that he is propped on the bed beside them. Tooru takes one of his hands, and the other hand rests on Kentarou's arm around his chest. "It's kinda quiet when you aren't around."

Tooru squeezes Kentarou's arm. "You looked like you had a good time without me."

Kentarou huffs. "You're always terrible when you look through social media. It was just a few pictures."

"We watched your games," Hajime says. "And I saw all your posts. I'm jealous too, you know. You get to experience all this culture while I have to work my ass off on splits at the hospital."

"You two care too much about all that," Kentarou says, and Tooru can practically hear the eye roll. He shifts himself so he can look up at Kentarou's face, which scowls back down at him.

"You protest now, but I'm sure once we get a dog, you'll make a profile just for them. You'll be on there all the time."

Kentarou scowl darkens as he glares at Tooru, then over at Hajime when he starts laughing. Tooru giggles too, and pulls Kentarou's face down for a kiss.

After a few seconds, he breaks away. He glances over at Hajime, who raises his eyebrows. "I'm sorry I'm like this," he says, looking away, down toward where their feet are all tangled up in his now ruined laundry. "That I can't just be happy for you two."

Kentarou butts his nose into Tooru's jaw, gently. 

"You've always been like this," Hajime says with a small smile. "I'm sorry too. I promise tomorrow we can do whatever you want. I just wanted you to know that this relationship wouldn't be the same without you."

"Too quiet," Kentarou agrees.

Tooru swallows, suddenly not sure if he wants to cry or breathe a great sigh of relief. Hajime shifts closer so he, too, can give Tooru a few lingering kisses. "And we'll keep reminding you of it, every time you don't think you are an essential part of this relationship."

"It might have to be a lot," Tooru whispers.

"Then I guess we'd better start," Hajime whispers back, and Kentarou nods against Tooru's head in agreement.

Eventually, Tooru falls asleep between the two best things that have ever happened to him in his life. When he wakes up, he is too hot to be comfortable. He groans, then tries to shimmy his way out of the middle of Hajime and Kentarou without waking them. His phone tells him it has only been about an hour since they'd taken their impromptu nap. He frowns at the new lump of wrinkled, unfolded clothes he has found himself in.

"Don't worry," Kentarou whispers. Tooru whirls back around to face him, surprised he hadn't noticed him awake. "We left all of our folding and ironing for you to do. Don't think we didn't notice how much you like it. It's our welcome home gift."

Tooru's groan is loud enough to wake Hajime, but he thinks that's good payback, all things considered.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments/kudos appreciated!


End file.
